Hiring survey indicates best holiday job market in five years

By Katherine Field Boccaccio

RICHMOND, Va. — An annual seasonal hiring survey released Thursday by Snagajob indicated that more holiday jobs will be available this year than have been expected in any previous season in the study's five-year history.

The survey of more than 1,000 hourly hiring managers with responsibility for seasonal hiring, conducted by IPSOS Public Affairs for Snagajob, included the following highlights:

Among hiring managers with responsibility to hire year-end, seasonal workers for the holiday period, 63% will make hires this year, the highest percentage in the Snagajob five-year survey and up 12 percentage points from last year (51%);

Significantly more workers will be hired, as hiring managers said they expect to hire 6.1 seasonal workers, on average — a nearly 50% increase over last year and almost 100% over the survey's low point in 2009; and

When comparing the hiring managers who expect their fourth-quarter sales to be better than last year with those who expect sales to be worse, the survey showed a net score of +20, indicating an expected sales increase. Last year, positive sales were expected, but only by a +7 margin.

"For the past few seasons, we’ve had to talk about 'incremental improvements' being expected in holiday hiring," Snagajob VP marketing Jason Hamilton, said. "But this year, there are strong indications that there should be substantial movement in getting us back to the kinds of holiday hiring levels we were accustomed to prior to the recession."

According to Hamilton, the survey showed that 24% more hiring managers are hiring this season, and hiring managers, on average, are planning to hire about 50% more people.

"Those indicators taken together point to a vastly improved seasonal job market," Hamilton said.

Among those who will be hiring, 57% said they expect to complete their hiring by the end of October — if not sooner — compared with 46% last year. Nearly half (49%) of seasonal workers are expected to be full-time hires, the highest level recorded in the five-year survey. Added to that, hiring managers who will be making hires expect that 50% of their seasonal hires will be able to stay on after the holidays and take a permanent job.